Elton John’s Husband: Madonna Is ‘Embarrassing’ and ‘Desperate’

Not everyone was pleased with Madonna‘s win for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes on Sunday. After the Material Girl-turned-director picked up the prize for her track “Masterpiece,” from her film W.E. ”“ beating out Elton John‘s “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet ”“ John’s husband took to the internet to voice his disgust.

“Madonna. Best song???? F**k off!!!” wrote David Furnish on his Facebook. He continued in a separate post that also scoffed at the pop star’s moment at the podium: “Madonna winning Best Original Song truly show how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism. And her criticism of Gaga shows how desperate she really is.”

Furnish’s support of Lady Gaga (godmother to his child with John) references a comment that Madonna made in an interview with ABC last week, in which she equated the young singer’s “Born This Way” as “reductive” and “an interesting redo of my song,” that being her 1989 hit “Express Yourself.” His sharp words were the couple’s second attack launched at Madonna since Sunday. When questioned before the ceremony about his competition for Best Original Song by interviewer Carson Daly, John replied, “Madonna hasn’t got a f—ing chance.”

John’s barb was in line with past comments he’s made about the pop singer, including a well-publicized interview several years ago in which he called her a “lip-syncher.” There may also be a political dimension to the hubbub: as the Chicago Sun-Times’ Bill Zwecker notes, John and Furnish enjoy a close relationship with the British monarchy, whose climactic abdication scandal of 1936 is dramatized in Madonna’s W.E.

For her part, Madonna attempted to keep the peace at the Golden Globes, telling reporters backstage, “[I hope Elton] speaks to me for the next couple of years. He’s been known to get mad at me, so I don’t know. He’s brilliant, and I adore him, so he’ll win another award. I don’t feel bad.”